Friday, September 25, 2015

Internet

Basically, we still don't have it in our house. And yes, it is driving me crazy. But as the days go on with no connection, I miss it less and less. I have been spending more time reading and working, more time listening to music. I haven't been on Facebook every two hours and all of my social media activity has basically been limited to two days a week when I can use the WiFi at work, or when I happen to be driving past a McDonald's.

It's amazing, how quickly we come to take things like WiFi for granted. When I first moved away from home and went to college, I had to go to the school's library to type papers and send e-mails. I had no computer in my room, and I didn't even have my own phone line, let alone internet. AND, no mobile phones! How did I survive? Things have changed a lot in the past 15-16 years.

Now I feel really old!

Dylan has lost another tooth. And I know that hardly seems BLOG-worthy, but trust me, it's a big deal. He really doesn't like losing his teeth, and this one was a front tooth that was barely hanging on for almost 10 weeks. I had finally had enough of him looking like he had a chiclet held to his gums, being unable to speak properly, and eating out of the side of his mouth. I told him if it wasn't out by the following day I was taking him to the dentist to have it pulled. He got it out the next morning. And then, last night, Edith head butted him whilst they were playing and knocked out another one. What a champion!

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Irony...

When Martin and I bought our house on Fleetgate, we spent the first few months trying to get rid of the wet dog and nicotine smell that pervaded the upstairs rooms. On Monday night, when we went to give the keys to the new owners, they were smoking and their dog was running around.

Hmm...

It is done. The money is in the bank. We are mortgage free. It still doesn't feel quite real, but once we start filling out paperwork, I'm sure it will. This is happening, and it is very exciting!

Every time I do something now, I think to myself that it could be the last time. Last Barton Carnival, last time at the Lincoln Christmas market, last bonfire night, last Primary presentation, etc. It's a strange feeling. We've been here for so long, and we are so happy and comfortable here. In fact, it occurred to me just yesterday that I have lived at 48 Fleetgate longer than I have ever lived anywhere in my whole life! Change is a good thing, but it is so terrifying!

One good thing came of the key exchange. They were painting their new house, and it got me all excited to buy a house in Utah when we move back. I love the fun of making a house a home. It's different with a rental, when you don't want to do too much to it since it's not yours (and because you'll only be living there for a few months). But it's great to start with a clean slate, choose colours, make changes, and do all that initial work that makes a place your own. We are planning on buying a fixer-upper and really going to town on it. I can hardly wait!

The kids are thriving at school, as per usual. They both love their new teachers, and are getting right back into the swing of things. I have started letting them walk to school on their own, and Dylan especially loves the independence it gives him. Edith isn't allowed to go on her own though, because she is a bit on the flighty side, so if Dylan has a club after school, I go and collect her. It's so nice to only have to get the kids ready in the morning and not worry about getting myself ready as well.

Martin is still loving the job. This career move has been brilliant for him so far. He's having to work weekends at the moment, as they are pushing hard to finish a job, but he still comes home from work happy and never has to go in after his scheduled hours. And he gets paid hourly, so a 50 hour work week is worth it!

So that's the update.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Well that was a weird six weeks...

School is back in session, I am back at work, and...

We sold our house!!!

Well, technically we haven't sold it yet. We are waiting on our solicitors, and theirs, to finish up the paperwork. But we have moved out of 48 Fleetgate and into a nice (albeit much smaller) house just a few streets down on Finkle Lane.

So here's what happened:

Sarah and Hannah loved the house, they made an offer, it was a bit low so we met them half way. They agreed, and we formally accepted their offer. Then a survey was done and we had to reduce the price as their mortgage company demanded a cash retainer from them because of some issues. Not a huge deal--the house IS really freaking old. Annoying, but they were fair about it. We agreed to a completion date, and started looking for a house to rent. We found a house, got that all squared away, then started packing for our move. I got chicken pox (that's right, BLOOMING CHICKEN POX) and didn't feel up to doing much packing. The Mundays came and helped. The Tillings came and helped. Noelle's husband Richard came and helped. The missionaries helped a bit, as well. My visiting teacher and mother-in-law helped me pack up the kitchen. The Mundays helped again, including feeding us dinner when we were too tired to move. Martin worked through it all, putting in 10 hour days on a building site and 5 hour nights moving house. The kids were annoying. My asthma flared up. We finally got all moved out on the seventh of September. The solicitors still haven't completed.

ARGH!!!

I am a bit of an emotional wreck/giant ball of stress. We are in the new house, but there is no storage there and we have a lot of stuff. Granted, I am planning on getting rid of a great deal of it. But for the time being, we are shuffling around it. That first night I crawled over the boxes into our bed and cried myself to sleep, miserable that we were in this tiny house while our beautiful old (HUGE) house stood empty just a few streets away. I love that house. So many happy memories were made there. And now that it's completely empty and clean, I can see just what a great house it really is. I can't stand messes, and the new place will be one for a while until we get some storage sorted out. It feels cramped and messy, and I just want to go home. But we are doing this, and it will be worth it in the long run.

Our plan is to stay in England until around June. Then we will move back to the U.S., find jobs, get settled, and have a little bit of a summer break before the kids start school. We are hoping to buy a house, something that we can fix up like we did here. We are making a decent profit on the sale over here, so it should work out pretty well.

So there you have it--our last six weeks. Pretty mental, huh? So much for relaxing days with plenty of bike rides and picnics and swimming. Instead it was non-stop stress and paralysis, and packing, and denial, and graft. Oh, and a few lie ins as well.

This is just the first step in our journey back to Utah, and while it is incredibly stressful, it is also what we've wanted for over 5 years now. We're excited!